US planned nerve gas attack on Australian troops

The United States planned to gas Australian troops in experiments with two of the most lethal nerve gases ever devised, newly declassified files have revealed.

Previously top secret documents have shown that even as the world was outlawing chemical weapons at the height of the Cold War, Washington sought Canberra's permission to test sarin and VX gas on diggers in remote Queensland.

The documents, shown on Channel Nine's Sunday programme yesterday, indicate that US military scientists wanted to bomb and spray 200 "mainly Australian" troops with the deadly nerve agents in the 1960s.

Shaken by the request, the plan was rejected by Liberal Prime Minister Harold Holt, despite Canberra's deep concern to keep the US engaged in the western Pacific.